Cactus Culture for Amateurs eBook

P. phyllanthus (leaf-flowering).—­This species
is now rarely seen in cultivation. As the oldest
of the garden kinds it is, however, deserving of a
little notice. Philip Miller grew it in his collection
in 1710. The branches are broad and flat, the
edges waved, not notched, and the flowers are composed
of a thin tortuous tube, 9 in. in length, bearing at
the top a whorl of recurved greenish petals, 1 in.
long, with a cluster of whitish stamens and a green,
club-shaped style and stigma. Brazil.

P. phyllanthoides (phyllanthus-like); Bot. Mag.
2092.—­For the introduction of this handsome-flowered
kind we are indebted to the great travellers and naturalists,
Humboldt and Bonpland, who discovered it growing in
the woods upon the trunks of old trees around Cartagena
in South America. Plants of it were forwarded
by them to France, where they flowered for the first
time in 1811. From that time till now this species
has been in favour as a garden plant, though it is,
at the present time, much less common in English gardens
than it deserves to be. The branches are broad,
triangular when young, flat when old, about 1 ft.
long by 2 in. wide, with shallow incisions, the serrations
rather sharply angled. The height of the plant
is from 2 ft. to 3 ft. The flowers are produced
on the margins of the young branches, and are composed
of a short, thick tube, not more than 2 in. in length,
and short, dark, recurved scales; the petals are broad,
pointed, and form a stellate cluster about 4 in. across;
they are of a bright rose-colour, streaked with white,
and shaded here and there with a darker colour of red.
The stamens are numerous and pure white. The
flowers open in the day-time, and are scentless; they
last in perfection for two or three days, and may,
therefore, be employed as cut flowers for vases, &c.
Early summer.

Hybridsandvarieties.

In addition to the cultivated species of Phyllocactus
there are numerous hybrids and varieties, many of
which are beautiful and distinct either in colour
or in size of blossom.